Dynamic visualizations and learning: getting to the difficult questions

In summary, the papers in this volume indicate a significant forward step in our understanding of learning from dynamic and interactive media. In particular, they move beyond a simplistic view of dynamic displays as realistic simulations of visible events, and consider the ways in which distortions, augmentations and visualizations of non-visual phenomena can be instructive. Second, they address some of the challenges as well as the advantages of learning from dynamic displays. Third, they address some of the cognitive abilities and skills that might come into play in learning from interactive displays. Finally, the papers in this volume report relevant data, including process data on how people learn from media, which can provide important new insights. In addition to these important steps, we need more attention to what is to be learned in a given situation and the abilities (especially internal visualization abilities) that learners bring to the situation in order to improve our understanding of how dynamic media can be best used in the educational process and how the educational process itself must adapt to the availability of new media. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.